Bleeding Bodies, Aching Hearts
by Getsuei-Hime
Summary: Finally the war between Konoha and Orochimaru's forces has come. When Sakura, a local medic, stumbles upon an enemy who promises her love, how will she respond? -Deisaku-
1. Chapter 1

"Sakura! We need you over here - stat! We have another four down!"

"Another four?! When will this end?" Sakura cried, running over to the group of shinobi - they were placing the injured ninja each on four beds. "Status report?"

"Two have received cracked ribs, one with a broken limb, and the other is poisoned…or something. We're not completely sure." The ninja said this very seriously.

Sakura sighed. "That bad, huh? Alright, I need a few washcloths and a bucket or two. Oh, and where are those bandages I asked for earlier?" She turned to a nurse standing next to her. "You! I need bandages! This is war - we can't be dawdling during these times! Move it!"

The small brunette nurse nodded. "Yes, of course…my apologies."

"Now let's see here…" She walked over to the forth man, whom was claimed to have been poisoned. Laying her fingertips on his chest, she closed her eyes and let her chakra run through his body.

'Yes…' she thought. 'he's been poisoned alright. I'll need to get this poison out immediately!'

She began extracting the poison from the ninja's body, a bubble forming in between her hands.

The brunette nurse came scurrying back, bandages and a bucket in her hand.

"Good, good." Sakura said briskly. "I want you to set that bucket right here by this guy's side - leave the bandages on that table over there. Thank you."

The nurse nodded, but continued to oversee Sakura's work. "So he's…poisoned?"

Sakura's eyes flashed from between the girl and her patient. "Yes, unfortunately. Must've been taken by surprise. He'll be fine after I get this poison out of him though."

Moments later, the last bubble came out of the man's body, and he was declared fine.

Sakura lifted up the bucket and handed it to the nurse. "This bucket is full of the poison. Take this to the tent next door - give it to the girl with her hair in a braid. She'll make an antidote out of this."

After the nurse had left, Sakura spent the remainder of her time treating the rest of her patients - all of whom were just fine. Although they were to stay in bed for at least a few more days until they could get up again.

The war between Konoha and Orochimaru's forces had been going on for two whole months now. Konoha was able to hold it's own, but in turn required nearly every ninja in the village to do so. Sakura was no exception. Since she was a med nin, she was needed along the front lines - but not to fight. No, there were plenty others to fight. She was to heal and to help the injured ninja. She worked herself hard with hardly any time to rest - she was exhausted, as was everyone else, but she never let on about it. She woke up at the break of dawn, and didn't rest until late at night. Others pleaded for her to take a break, but she refused - as long as there were others in need of healing and she was still standing, she wasn't going to stop. Especially now.

One day one of her patients told her about his adventure on the battlefield:

"--And so there I was, shuriken in hand, waiting for the brute to charge at me." The ninja's voice was filled with excitement, which in turn made Sakura smile. "He rode on a large bird, one made of…ugh, I dunno, a tan colored material. Clay maybe? Anyway, he came charging at me - flipped me over, he did! Broke my arm with a crack - said, 'Art is a bang!' Or somethin'…mighty odd he was."

Sakura stopped wrapping the man's arm and stared at him. "…what did this person look like?"

The ninja seemed a bit surprised at her sudden interest, but grinned. "I didn't really see 'em too well. Wore a black cloak though. Blonde-hair, maybe? I'm not sure."

Emerald orbs opened wide in realization. Could it have been…? Yes, very possibly. She certainly heard her fill of rumors and gossip about the Akatsuki joining Orochimaru's side. But why? They were enemies…weren't they? Unless they formed some sort of agreement… In that case, things weren't going to go down too well.

"Hey, miss? What's wrong?"

Sakura shook her thoughts off. "Oh…it's nothing. Let's finish your arm, okay?"

Weeks went by and she still hadn't heard anything about the Akatsuki, or - dare she say his name - Deidara. She wondered if what the ninja had said about seeing him was true. He could've just been showing off or some such. But even so, she wanted to know what had become of Deidara.

Work was still brutal, but she didn't entirely mind it. . All of her work was helping Konoha, so in that case she was overjoyed about doing her part.

It was a Friday, towards the end of her shift - she was organizing all of her medical supplies in her bag when somebody entered the tent.

"Sakura, we have another one."

Sakura turned to see a large ninja carrying somebody in their arms. She rushed over to the twosome. What she saw surprised her - the injured man had blond hair that was messily tied up in a ponytail, and had the exact same features as…Deidara.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's received some head trauma it looks like…I found him unconscious on the battle field, but he's still alive."

Sakura's hands cupped her face as she looked at Deidara. He looked so…peaceful. Minus the blood, scratches, and bruises of course.

"Right. Um, please set him right here…" Sakura mumbled, pointing to one of the beds.

The large ninja did as told, but still he didn't leave. Sakura ignored him for the most part as she tended to Deidara, but still - the ninja was kind of throwing off her vibe.

"…Is there anything that you need?" Sakura asked, head turning slightly to look at the ninja. "You've been here an awfully long time."

The ninja shook his head. "No."

"Are you sur--"

"Well actually, yeah there's something that I wanted to ask you." He approached Sakura, his eyes never wavering from her face. "I want you to eat dinner with me."

Sakura almost gagged. "W-what?" She croaked. "eat dinner with you?"

"Yeah babe. How about it?"

"No thank you."

"What did you say?"

Sakura swallowed hard. "No thank you."

"Hey, nobody says no to me." He grabbed her wrist, causing her to flinch in pain.

Sakura struggled against the ninja. "No! You need to let me go right now!"

"You're gonna eat with me little girl - and you're gonna like it! Then afterwards…' he gave a cold, hard laugh and began tugging at her arm, trying to get her to move.

"No!" She screeched, closing her eyes.

Suddenly the pressure was removed, and she looked up.

Deidara was standing next to the ninja and was strangling him - hands wound around his neck.

"I absolutely despise people like you, yeah."

"Deidara!" Sakura cried. "Let him go, he can't breathe!"

Deidara gaped at her. "Surely you realize what this fool was going to do to you, yeah! Now you're defending him!?"

"Yes! Now stop it, Deidara!"

"Why should I, yeah?"

"Because! Nobody deserves this - not even him! Please Deidara, please!" Sakura cried.

Deidara looked at her for a few moments, then sighed.

"I just don't believe this…"

He let go of the man's neck, letting him fall to the floor. The ninja was gasping for breath.

Deidara turned to the man. "If I ever catch you around here again, you're really gonna get it, yeah. And next time Sakura won't be able to stop me." He cracked his knuckles, as the ninja fled out of the tent.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Lord…"

"What about me, yeah?" Deidara pouted. "You're lucky I was here!"

"Maybe so, but you still darn near killed that man! What were you thinking? He may be scum, but still! He's on Konoha's side! We need as many ninja to fight for us as possible! Oh but that's right," She huffed. "you're not on our side, are you? You took that damn Orochimaru's."

"Hey listen Pinky, I've just been doing what the Akatsuki tells me to do. It's nothing personal." He said, crossing his arms. "If you asked me, you should get over all this and -- ugh!"

Deidara crouched down on his knees, holding his head in pain. Sakura rushed over to him, panicked.

"Deidara?! What's wrong? Here," She took one of his arms and draped it over her shoulder. "Come on now." She helped him over to one of his beds, putting his head on a pillow.

"Deidara, you have to tell me what's wrong - otherwise, I can't help you!" Sakura cried out. "Please!"

Deidara's entire form was shaking, his hands still up by his head. "My head kills, yeah!"

"Ok, I'm going to make it better - don't worry!"

Sakura rushed over to her bag of medical supplies, rummaging through all of the items. She took out a roll of bandages and a moist washcloth, then returned to Deidara.

"Deidara, I need you to hold still, or try at least!"

She put her hands lightly on his forehead, using chakra to search for any injuries.

'…it's a slight blow to the head…but that would only be a minor injury! It shouldn't hurt him like this! Unless… a poison weapon was used!'

Sakura snapped her eyes open, and ran to the entrance of the tent.

"Jeanne! Do you have that antidote ready, yet? We need it now! This is an emergency!" She yelled fiercely.

The girl with the braid ran over to Sakura, holding a small vial. "Yes! I just finished it. Please let him swallow this and continue to heal his wound with chakra. He should be fine after that. But you must hurry!"

Sakura grabbed the vial out of the nurse's hand and dashed over by Deidara. Forcing him to swallow it, she continued her healing. Within a few minutes, Deidara's trembling stopped, and he seemed quite at ease.

"You…" Deidara breathed. "saved me, yeah. Why?"

Sakura smiled, sitting on the bed next to him. "Because I owed you one. Remember? You saved me from that ninja before. Let's just call it even."

Deidara laughed. "So when am I gonna be able to get outta here, yeah? I'm on Orochimaru's side, you know. I could be spying on all of your plans. I could ruin your chances of winning this war. If you were smart, you'd get rid of me right now, yeah."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Since when were you the boss of me? I can do whatever the hell I want to do! Besides," She sighed. "I don't care if you're on the other side or not. You're still a patient - and as such, I will treat you like one. You need to stay in bed for a few days longer."

Deidara groaned. "Oh come on!"

Sakura pointed a finger at Deidara. "And I mean it! No escaping."

"What would you do if I did escape?"

"I would smack you upside the head so hard that I would be forced to drag you back here - your injuries would be that bad." She cracked her knuckles.

Deidara stuck his tongue out at her, and made an attempt to fix his messy ponytail.

"Hey Sakura, what do you say we make a bet, yeah?"

"…a bet? About what?"

"A bet on how long it's going to take you to fall for me." He said, a smug grin plastered upon his features.

"What!? Why would you just say that all of a sudden?" Sakura blushed.

Deidara shrugged. "I dunno, yeah. I'm just saying - it's inevitable."

Sakura clenched her teeth and rolled her hands into tight fists. "Say that one more time, I DARE you!"

Deidara slowly looked over at her, grinning wildly.

"GAH!!! I hate you!"

"I'm going to change that, yeah!" Deidara sang.

Sakura shook her head fiercely. "We'll see about that! I want you to get some shut eye right now though. And I'd better do the same. And remember," She waved a finger at him. "No escaping. No matter what."

Deidara nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I hear ya."

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**Yay!! X3 i am so, so happy that i'm finally doing a Deisaku fic! I've always wanted to do one and now...i finally am! ^///^ Anyway, i wish to inform you that this fic will have at most 4-5 chapters [otherwise, i'll quickly loose interest in it!] So yes. Please enjoy, and comment! I'll do my best to reply.**

**Thank you so much! 3 Getsuei-Hime **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Just Like That**

The next morning, Sakura woke bright and early, eager to get to her job quickly. How she despised taking breaks…it wasn't fair for her to be able to rest while countless shinobi were out there - risking their lives - without a free moment to spare!

She and a quarter of Konoha's medical crew were placed in an area a little ways outside of Konoha's border. Medics camped out in their own tents to sleep at night, and returned to their patients (which stayed in medical bases nearby) in the morning. To say that this was a hard way of living was an understatement. Being away from family and friends - especially in wartime - was never an easy thing to endure. But each medic knew what they were getting into, and wished for the betterment of Konoha over their own happiness.

After Sakura got dressed, she rushed out of her tent, fervently awaiting to see if Deidara had stayed like she asked.

Opening the doors to the medical base, she paused, scanning each individual bed. And unfortunately, Deidara was missing. The covers on his bed were messily pushed back, and one of the two pillows were tossed on the floor, the cover falling off.

Sakura groaned loudly and rubbed her temples with her hands.

"I just knew that I couldn't trust that lazy, arrogant, piece of--"

"--piece of what, yeah?"

Sakura spun around, and was somewhat surprised to see Deidara. He had a small basket full of fruits in his left hand, and holding a half eaten loaf of bread in the other.

Sakura scowled at him and said curtly, "I thought you left."

Deidara gave her his best innocent look, and pretended to be offended. "Why, Sakura, I would never, yeah! I'm surprised at you for thinking I would do such a horrific thing to my most beloved, my most wonderful, my sweet --"

"Okay, you can cut the act now." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

"Somebody's grumpy, yeah. Here," Deidara tossed an apple at her, and she caught it.

Sakura inspected the apple warily. "…what's this?"

"It's what it looks like, genius. Just eat, yeah. Hungry people are cranky people, and cranky people are annoying people. However in your case," He poked her forehead. "you're just annoying all the time."

Sakura wiped her head quickly before taking in the apple once more. "You didn't poison it or anything did you?"

"Sakura, if I wanted you dead, it would've already happened. Although," He glared at her through a blue orb. "I will never forgive you for killing Danna. And for that," He spat. "I hate you."

Sakura looked away from his piercing gaze and began to eat her apple. Okay, so apparently that was a sensitive subject. But what could she possibly do about it? Sasori was trying to kill her! She didn't like killing people, but at that point it was necessary.

"Sorry…" She muttered, and began fumbling around her medic bag, pretending to look for something.

Deidara sighed, clearly aggravated. Sakura was almost positive that the guy was bipolar.

"So," Deidara mused, munching on his loaf of bread. "what's the agenda for today, yeah?"

Yep. Definitely bipolar.

"The usual. Wait here until somebody needs my help." Sakura said, pulling up a small plastic chair to sit on.

"Well, that doesn't sound very fun…"

"Maybe not, but it's my job."

Deidara considered what she said. Swallowing another piece of bread, he too pulled up a chair next to Sakura.

"So Akatsuki, huh?" Sakura pondered, turning her half eaten apple over in her hands. "Speaking of which -" She looked around the base. "where's your cloak?"

Deidara shrugged. "I have no idea where my cloak is, yeah. Probably got blown off me back there somewhere when that baka hit me with those poison needles…" He rolled his eyes at the memory. "Right in the head, too, yeah!"

Sakura laughed. "That seems so unlikely somehow! An Akatsuki passing out…" She took a bite of apple. "But why didn't anyone come and find you? Your partner, maybe?"

Deidara shook his head. "My partner is a little…unreliable to say the least. Besides, we Akatsuki usually come and go as we please. I bet nobody even noticed I'm gone, yeah."

"But what if you died? Wouldn't anyone care?"

Again, Deidara shrugged. "Probably not."

"Well, that's just…sad!"

Deidara grunted. "It's no worse then what you're enduring now, yeah."

"Maybe so, but I really don't think I'm going to die anytime soon… and even if I did, I'm sure _somebody _would mourn for me. Family, friends…you know. Don't you have any of that?"

Deidara looked away and remained silent, chewing on the last remains of his bread.

Okay, so that was a definite no.

"_Nobody_?" Sakura asked, astounded.

"…I had a brother. He died though. Some seven years ago, yeah." He wiped his hands on his shirt. "But we're talking about you - staying so far out here, with no family or friends. It's hard. I should know, yeah." He stood up and began walking over to the door.

"…Deidara? W-where are you going?"

He turned to her and smiled. "To have some fun, yeah."

"Fun!?"

"Sure, why not, yeah?"

"But…this is war! People are getting killed!"

"All the more reason to go, yeah. Getting away from everything is never bad."

"I can't go! What if somebody needs my help?"

"Look around, Sakura. Do you see _anybody_ in need of help right now, yeah?"

Sakura looked around the base, somewhat hesitantly. She let out a barely audible, "…No."

"Then COME ON, yeah!" Deidara said, fleeting out of the base.

"Aah! Wait for me!" Sakura cried running after. "Deidara! I mean it!"

Deidara slowed his pace down a bit so she could catch back up. "Oh, look who's come to join me, yeah!" He chuckled.

"Oh shut up! The only reason why I came is because you're still ill technically. If you were to pass out or something, it would be my fault!" She said matter-of-factly.

Deidara shrugged. "Whatever, yeah."

They passed by several people and tents, all the while being pretty much silent.

"…Deidara? What if someone were to recognize you? Then you'd be taken away!"

Deidara stuck his tongue out at her. "Nobody's gonna notice, yeah. People are way too concerned with the war to really pay attention to anything but their duties, yeah. Plus, if you look around, there's not very many people here. Nobody's gonna recognize me."

Sakura nodded, accepting his answer to be correct. "Well…where are we going anyway?"

"All in due time, Sakura-Chan. All in due time."

Deidara ran into a dense forest located a little ways east of the base. Sakura followed close behind, although she found it a bit difficult to keep up due to his fast speed.

"Deidara, - ouch!" A sharp branch had left a cut down her arm - and it was bleeding atrociously. She hissed in pain as she moved to heal it, but remembered that she was following Deidara, so she had to keep up.

"You move so slow, yeah!" Deidara called, about thirty feet in front of her.

"And you move too fast, _yeah!_" She sassily added his favorite word to the end of her sentence.

"Hey! No making fun of my accent, yeah!"

"I can do whatever I want to do." She looked at her arm. "I'm bleeding Deidara. Slow down."

Deidara ran back towards her and inspected her arm. "Oh you must be kidding, yeah! This is barely a scratch! I've had to endure BOTH of my arms being torn off, mind you!" He ripped off the hem of his shirt and tied it around Sakura's wound.

"There. Now will you c'mon, yeah?!"

Sakura's lip went out in a pout.

The two continued bounding through the forest for what seemed like a long time - maybe even a few hours.

Just when Sakura thought she could take no more, they stumbled upon a clearing.

"…what's all this?" Sakura asked, looking around the clearing. It was beautiful - colorful flowers sprouted from the ground, and there was no place that she could look that wasn't green. Above her head were the tops of the tall trees, swaying in the wind.

"It's so pretty…" Sakura cooed, looking at her surroundings. But then she looked back at Deidara, whom was staring at her. "…Deidara?"

He started to approach her, slowly and carefully - and that was when Sakura began to get frightened. "…What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

When he didn't say anything, she started to back away. "Please! Answer me."

And then suddenly, a gust of wind blew by and he was gone.

"Deidara?"

She felt the breath of somebody behind her - Deidara no less.

"Sakura…" He breathed. "I'm sorry, yeah."

"…Dei--?!"

Emerald orbs opened wide at the sudden sharp impact - and then she fell unconscious.

Deidara stared at the small girl buried in the grass. Sure, he felt bad about what he had just done, but it was for the greater good. Well, his good anyway.

"I'm sorry Sakura. But I had to get away somehow, yeah. If I used any other way other than this one, you would've killed me." He chuckled at the thought. "Besides, I think it'll be better this way. You don't need me, yeah. But just so you know…" He picked up a yellow daisy and put in one of her hands. "I'll be watching you."

Another gust of wind blew and he was gone with a puff of smoke. Just like that.

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**YAY! Second Chappie! ^///^ Hopefully i'll get the next one posted soon. Please review! I'll do my best to reply!**

**Thankies! -Getsuei-Hime**

**_Disclaimer -_ [i always seem 2 forget this somehow...] _Naruto doesn't belong 2 me!!!_**


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